Documentary, Napoleon The Russian Campaign Series 1 2of2 The Berezina
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00:30In 1811, Napoleon controls Europe, from the Mediterranean to the Nieman River.
00:41He's counting on Russian support to fight the British.
00:45But Alexander doesn't approve of Napoleon's expansionist strategy,
00:49and irrespective of their treaties, allows the British access to his ports.
00:54For Napoleon, Russia's behavior makes it an enemy of France.
01:01Collincourt, his closest advisor, tries to convince him not to embark on another devastating campaign,
01:07but Napoleon will hear nothing of it.
01:10In June 1812, the Grande Armée crosses the Nieman River
01:14and enters Russian territory in a declaration of war.
01:19Napoleon's aim is a lightning campaign.
01:22Alexander chooses to avoid conflict, and allows the Grande Armée to invade his land.
01:28General Kutuzov is named as Supreme Commander of the Russian Army.
01:33The French continue their march on Moscow in the intense heat,
01:36but the Russians strip the land bare as part of a scorched-earth policy.
01:41Ill health and desertions decimate the Grande Armée.
01:44Despite his victory at the Battle of Borodino, also called the Battle of La Moscova,
01:50Napoleon cannot annihilate his enemy.
01:53The Grande Armée arrives in a deserted Moscow.
01:56The city's governor, Count Rostopchin, has decided to burn it down to leave nothing to the French.
02:03Get down!
02:04The Russians are ready to do anything to destroy the Grande Armée.
02:15The artillery is in place. The cavalry, too.
02:19Larry Boisier tells me the stables are burning and the fire may spread to the arsenal.
02:22400 crates of gunpowder? The slightest spark could blow the lot.
02:26We don't have a moment to lose. We have to leave the Kremlin.
02:28I am the first sovereign for more than two centuries to have conquered this fortress.
02:32There is no question...
02:34This isn't about retreating. It's about keeping you safe.
02:43The fire spreads, and it's impossible to predict where or when it'll stop,
02:48but Napoleon wants to prove his determination to the Tsar.
02:52Savages. Burning their city like this.
02:57This is not how a war is fought!
03:02The results of the fire in Moscow were impressive.
03:12More than 60% of the wooden constructions in the city burned down.
03:18For six days, the flames are fanned by the wind and destroy the university library, palace, and theatres.
03:25They reduce countless wooden constructions to ashes, houses, warehouses, shops, and churches.
03:33The governor of Moscow, Count Rostopchin, writes to his wife,
03:37By the time you receive this letter, Moscow will be reduced to ashes.
03:42Forgive me.
03:42The fire in Moscow was responsible for the fire of Moscow.
03:43The fire in Moscow was responsible for the fire of Moscow.
03:47And he actually ordered a number of his junior officials to set fire in various places in the city.
03:55It is based on the idea that you will deprive the enemy of accommodation, comfort,
04:02and you will also persuade him that this is a war to the death.
04:07The fires in Moscow were a catastrophe for Alexander I.
04:13Later on, he would say that it was a fundamental element.
04:17He said, the fires in Moscow lit up my soul.
04:20It was a real trauma for him.
04:21In abandoning Moscow, Alexander loses the support of the Russian people and starts to doubt his generals.
04:32Devastated, he confides in his favorite sister, the Grand Duchess Ekaterina Pavlovna.
04:38Alexander.
04:39How could you allow the Corsican to take residence up in Moscow?
04:54Kutuzov led me to believe that our armies triumphed in Borodino.
04:59He tricked me and...
05:00You weren't responsible, brother.
05:04I didn't want to listen to Kutuzov.
05:06I was just giving in to the general consensus.
05:10They're accusing you of betraying the honor of the country and ruining the people.
05:15All the classes are united now in their condemnation of you.
05:18I don't have the skills.
05:20Stop doubting yourself.
05:28I am badly advised, badly served, and facing an adversary who has the whole of Europe at his disposal.
05:35Do you intend to abandon your empire to the scoundrel?
05:40That monster who wanted to marry me, to whom you almost promised my hand?
05:45My hand?
05:55Don't worry.
05:57I will refuse any negotiation with him while there is a single French soldier present on Imperial soil.
06:04And if my dynasty ever ceases to reign, I will grow a beard.
06:15I will go and eat potatoes in deepest Siberia.
06:19Because I love potatoes.
06:20Gradually, the Tsar ends up laying the blame on the French for the fires, in an attempt to reunite the population.
06:34The Moscow government is a-
06:39The siege of the Czech Republic is the enemy and the цар's of the king for our sins.
06:44The siege of the French...
06:46The fires in Moscow were a new catalyst in terms of the resistance of the Russian people,
07:03because these invaders had taken over the historic capital of Mother Russia and set it on fire.
07:10So long as Napoleon didn't succeed in doing that, Alexander would fight.
07:15And there was no reason for him to make peace just because Napoleon had got to Moscow.
07:20And he knew that the longer Napoleon stayed in Moscow, the more difficult the French position would become.
07:29Torrential rain eventually quenches the fires.
07:33In the heart of this wasted city, Napoleon is cradling illusions,
07:38that the Tsar will beg for mercy and ask for peace, and that it will only be a matter of days.
07:43There's no question of weakening.
07:46The arsonists are arrested in their hundreds and escorted to the scaffold.
07:50Convicts, middle-class bourgeoisie, Russian policemen, most of them plead innocence,
07:56but the order is given to kill with bayonets those who attempt to run away.
08:00Sergeant Bourgogne remembers.
08:08Until Moscow, I had always been a fairly carefree person who was above the problems burdening us.
08:14It seemed that the more danger and suffering there was, the more there needed to be glory and honour.
08:19The majority of accounts and stories from soldiers who arrived in Moscow described scenes of pillage.
08:30After the fires, Napoleon left people to their own devices.
08:33He allowed the city to be pillaged, and his soldiers amassed a wide range of objects,
08:39including antiques, jewellery and paintings.
08:41There was meat to be found, vegetables and drink,
08:46and there were a lot of stories that showed that the soldiers who were able to break into the cellars of the Moscow bourgeoisie
08:52found plenty of alcohol there, emerging completely incapable of doing their jobs as soldiers.
09:00Day 8 in Moscow, and no news of Alexander.
09:04Napoleon finds a way to contact him.
09:06Sir, Captain Yarkovlev.
09:08Ah, Captain.
09:10I hear your family is one of the most respectable in the city.
09:16And that you tried to run away, but you didn't have time.
09:20You are well informed.
09:23In exchange for a laissez-passer for you, your mistress, and your child,
09:27would you please deliver this letter to your sovereign?
09:30I cannot guarantee that he will agree to read it.
09:35Do your best.
09:38The Emperor hopes to push the Tsar into an honorable capitulation.
09:50Alexander, my brother, I'm a peace-loving man.
09:54It's not with pleasure that I am camped here.
09:57I miss my wife and son, and I wish you no harm.
10:01But those who serve you are only seeking personal glory.
10:06I am convinced that if nobody comes between us,
10:09our former friendship will soon return,
10:12and all this unhappiness will be over.
10:14He thinks I am being influenced by my entourage.
10:19It is I and I alone who refuses to grant him peace.
10:22You didn't know that I gave an order to not embark under any circumstances
10:26on any negotiations with Bonaparte?
10:30Your Majesty, I am but the messenger.
10:34Take him to the Peter and Paul fortress,
10:37where he can await a verdict for treason.
10:39I was forced to do it.
10:48For Alexander I, signing a peace treaty
10:51would probably have been a suicide mission.
10:54He would have been removed from the throne and replaced,
10:57and Alexander I knew that very well.
11:00The Tsar was categorical.
11:02Not only did he not want to negotiate,
11:04but he didn't even want anyone to speak
11:06with the French emissaries on his behalf.
11:09And above all, Napoleon considered
11:11that having taken the historic capital of Russia,
11:14he had won the war,
11:15and now it was just down to threshing out a peace treaty.
11:21While he waits for Alexander to capitulate,
11:24Napoleon manages French affairs from Moscow.
11:27He also organises the daily lives of his soldiers
11:30to keep them busy and to lift their spirits.
11:32As such, he reopens the French theatre in Moscow,
11:36but only for the troops stationed in the city.
11:42With Moscow having been largely destroyed by the fire,
11:45the majority of the soldiers have to camp out in the suburbs.
11:49Outside the city walls,
11:50they are much more exposed to the enemy
11:52and are attacked by partisans,
11:54helped by armed women and peasants
11:56determined to support their fathers and husbands
11:59and to avenge their brothers and sons.
12:02In terms of the partisans,
12:05there's only one thing you can say.
12:07They were army brigades made up of Cossacks and hussars.
12:10It was the biggest force that had ever fought the French.
12:13The Cossacks came from the south of the country
12:16and formed communities of free men.
12:19They had preserved a certain autonomy
12:20and used unusual tactics inherited from the people of the steppes.
12:26They were used to harass the enemy,
12:29attack its flanks and rear guard,
12:31and to damage communication lines night and day.
12:34These tens of thousands of Cossacks
12:37inspired terror in their enemies
12:39and wore down their spirits like diabolical apparitions.
12:45Alexander still refuses to answer.
12:48What ridiculous stubbornness.
12:51He will regret this.
12:53I'm sending you back to St. Petersburg, Corlanquo.
12:58You will see the Emperor Alexander and you'll make peace.
13:00He knows you...
13:00He will refuse to see me.
13:02He knows that time is on his side.
13:04Winter is coming.
13:04Oh, stop with the winter.
13:07The fall is milder here than in Fontainebleau.
13:08Don't count on it, sir.
13:10Winter will come,
13:10and in the state we are in,
13:11it will hit us like a bomb.
13:16Continue.
13:17We need to re-equip the army.
13:19We need sheepskins, gloves, hats,
13:22fur-lined boots,
13:23the things one needs for winter.
13:26I'm listening.
13:28Many of our men have already perished
13:29between the Neiman River and La Moscova,
13:32and believe me, we are lacking so much.
13:34We haven't prepared the winter horseshoes,
13:37so how will they manage
13:38with the artillery,
13:39with the diseased and wounded?
13:41The weather is still good.
13:43Let us profit from it and leave Moscow.
13:45Leaving Moscow would be admitting defeat.
13:47I understand your scruples
13:49about meeting Alexander.
13:51While Russia is so devastated,
13:52if that's the case, go and see Kutuzov.
13:54He will not give in either.
13:55Then I'll send Loriston,
13:56and he will have the honor of having made peace
13:58and having saved the crown of your friend, Alexander.
14:03You're dismissed, Conant Cor.
14:08There is no question of a Russian capitulation.
14:13In sending the Marquis of Loriston
14:14to negotiate with General Kutuzov,
14:17Napoleon hopes above all to save face
14:18and save his troops.
14:20Like Conant Cor before him,
14:22Loriston had been the French ambassador
14:24in St. Petersburg.
14:26The Emperor, my master,
14:27would have liked to have handled Moscow,
14:29like Vienna and Berlin.
14:31But in setting it ablaze,
14:32your compatriots have destroyed
14:33the work of several centuries.
14:35Dear ladies,
14:36I will be completely your...
14:39We have never made war in this way.
14:42Our soldiers are not arsonists.
14:44Unfortunately, the people are convinced
14:46of the contrary.
14:47For the Russians,
14:48this war is as devastating
14:50as a Tatar invasion.
14:51You cannot compare Napoleon
14:53to Genghis Khan.
14:54Oh, you're right.
14:55Genghis Khan was never so disrespectful
14:58as to turn our churches into stables.
15:00Your peasants have demonstrated
15:01extreme cruelty towards their prisoners.
15:03They schooled them
15:04and impaled them alive.
15:06Their ferocity is contrary
15:07to the rules of war and...
15:08Is our regular army
15:09also so dishonourable?
15:11No, but...
15:12Alas, I cannot control the serfs.
15:17They need to be completely re-educated.
15:20Let us at least organise
15:21an exchange of prisoners.
15:24The Emperor sincerely desires
15:25to put an end to this quarrel
15:27between two such generous nations.
15:29Let us find a compromise.
15:32A compromise?
15:33Do you want me to be damned
15:36by posterity?
15:38This war cannot go on any longer.
15:40Let us try to conclude an armistice.
15:42Oh, I am absolutely forbidden
15:45from speaking that word.
15:49Three times,
15:51Alexander refused to enter
15:52into negotiations
15:53and it paid off.
15:54A battle-weary Napoleon was forced
15:58on the 19th of October
16:00to announce his withdrawal.
16:03Napoleon is not a complete idiot.
16:05He can add up the realities
16:07of military logistics
16:08and he knows what will happen to him
16:11if he stays in Moscow over the winter
16:13and all his horses die,
16:14as they undoubtedly will.
16:16And he imagines,
16:17again, not entirely realistically,
16:19what might happen in Paris
16:21if the Emperor is cut off
16:23from his capital
16:24for four months
16:25at the other end of Europe.
16:37In his last letter from the Kremlin,
16:39the Emperor announces his retreat.
16:50This letter reveals
16:52a man overwhelmed.
16:54He had arrived in Moscow
16:55at the top of his power,
16:56but he is leaving
16:57in a weakened state.
17:00It is the start
17:02of an unstoppable decline.
17:04Nobody had ever seen him
17:09express himself
17:10with such emotion,
17:11even when he talked
17:12of his love
17:13for the Empress
17:14or his son.
17:21Moscow has floored him.
17:29The Grand Armée
17:30prepares to leave the city.
17:32Among us,
17:34there was a young
17:35and attractive person
17:36who, it was said,
17:37belonged to one
17:38of Moscow's first families.
17:43In a moment of madness,
17:45she had become involved
17:46with one of our superior officers.
17:49And in another,
17:50bigger moment of madness,
17:51she followed him
17:52in the retreat.
17:56The fatal convoy.
17:59A ragtag caravan
18:00of all kinds of vehicles,
18:01stuffed with the most
18:03unlikely bounty.
18:06Whole bookcases
18:07of beautiful volumes.
18:09Old masters rolled up
18:10for easier transportation.
18:13Despite the premonition
18:14of misery they bear,
18:15each is carrying
18:16their share of the spoils,
18:18along with several pounds
18:19of sugar, rice, biscuits,
18:21and liquor
18:22to head off
18:23the future deprivation.
18:26Behind the fighters
18:27come the non-combatants
18:28of the Grande Armée.
18:30Ambulance drivers,
18:31engineers,
18:32blacksmiths,
18:33bakers, farriers,
18:34cooks,
18:35women and children.
18:36All of whom
18:37have also profited
18:38from their stay in Moscow.
18:41The presence
18:42of the non-combatants
18:43mingling with the rear guard
18:44will soon prove
18:45to be a terrible handicap.
18:47Kutuzov's strategy
18:56is in a way simple.
18:58He believes
18:59that the climate
18:59will help
19:01to destroy
19:02the French army.
19:03He knows
19:04that his Cossacks,
19:05backed by regular
19:06light cavalry,
19:08will force
19:09the French army
19:09to stay on the roads,
19:11make it impossible
19:12for the French
19:13to forage
19:14and therefore
19:15do most of them
19:16to starvation.
19:18And that was
19:19no doubt
19:19Kutuzov's masterstroke,
19:21obliging him
19:22to retrace his steps.
19:24And indeed,
19:24a few days
19:25after leaving Moscow,
19:26the soldiers
19:27were crossing
19:27the battlefields
19:28of Borodino
19:29that nobody
19:30had had the time
19:31to clean up.
19:34The remains
19:35of the Battle
19:36of Borodino.
19:38We wondered
19:38what had been
19:39the point
19:40of this victory,
19:41writes Sergeant Bougain.
19:42this battle
19:43already celebrated
19:44by the number
19:44of victims
19:45whose lives
19:46it took.
19:52As far as
19:53the eye could see,
19:54there was
19:54an almighty stench
19:55with legs,
19:56arms and heads
19:57poking out
19:57of the earth.
19:59The rain
19:59had left
19:59open graves.
20:01There is nothing
20:02more pitiful
20:03than all those
20:04dead who had
20:05barely kept
20:05their human form
20:0652 days
20:08after the battle.
20:08Grand Armée
20:12Dr. Heinrich
20:13von Roos
20:14remembers,
20:15everywhere we
20:16camped
20:17or on the road
20:18when the wounded
20:18needed to get down
20:19from their transport
20:20or to redo
20:21their bandages,
20:22they were abandoned
20:23by cruel cooks,
20:25arrogant women
20:25with their newly
20:26found riches
20:27or merciless
20:28brothers in arms.
20:29I saw some of them
20:30moaning and begging
20:31for help on the road.
20:34Like Armand
20:35de Collincourt
20:36had sadly predicted,
20:38the winter arrives
20:39without warning
20:39in early November.
20:41Temperatures fall
20:42below minus 20 degrees
20:44Celsius.
20:45The horses
20:46have not been shod
20:47for ice
20:47and as a result
20:48every movement
20:49makes them slip
20:50and they become
20:51exhausted.
20:52The loads in the
20:53wagons need to be
20:54lightened,
20:55forcing the Grand
20:55Armée to offload
20:56their booty.
20:58Moscow is already
20:59little more than
21:00a distant memory.
21:02I think the Grand
21:03Armée was not
21:04prepared for the winter,
21:05because no Napoleon
21:06never expected
21:07to fight a winter
21:08campaign.
21:10Studies have shown
21:12that a combination
21:12of three factors,
21:14exhaustion, stress
21:15and cold,
21:16wreak havoc
21:16on a soldier's
21:17metabolism.
21:18So much so
21:19that if they receive
21:20the equivalent
21:21of 500 calories
21:22a day,
21:23their body can only
21:23absorb a fraction.
21:25The harassment
21:26tactics of the Russians
21:27combined with the
21:28weather and rationing
21:29of supplies
21:30therefore accelerates
21:31the onset of
21:32malnutrition,
21:33amplifies the famine
21:34and multiplies the
21:35number of those
21:36dying of hunger.
21:37From the start,
21:38he expected to defeat
21:39the Russian army
21:40within two months.
21:41That was the whole
21:42logic of his strategy.
21:44But he gets drawn
21:45into a longer campaign.
21:50On the ground,
21:52the men are freezing.
21:53They're so hungry
21:54that they slit open
21:55the bellies of abandoned
21:56horses, collect their blood
21:57and cook it for food.
22:00The Russians profit
22:01from this terrible situation
22:02to attack their prey.
22:05The Grande Armée
22:06falls apart,
22:07while in Paris
22:08the balance of power
22:09is shifting.
22:11On the night
22:12of the 23rd of October
22:13in Paris,
22:14General Mallet
22:15and a few of his men
22:16go to the Prefecture,
22:17seize the Minister of Police,
22:19Savary,
22:19and take him
22:20to La Force prison.
22:23Mallet and his
22:24accomplices
22:24then go to the
22:25High Command
22:26in Place Vendôme
22:27without encountering
22:28the slightest resistance.
22:30Mallet has spread
22:31a rumor
22:31that the Emperor
22:32has been killed
22:33at the gates of Moscow.
22:35He wants to set up
22:36a provisional government
22:37and put an end
22:38to the war.
22:39The Emperor's popularity
22:40in Paris is waning.
22:43When Napoleon hears
22:45of this attempt
22:46at a coup d'état,
22:47he only has one thing
22:48in mind.
22:49I must return
22:50to Paris now.
22:51I cannot allow emotions
22:52to spiral out of control,
22:54even if this business
22:54only lasted a few hours.
22:56There are always
22:57wise men
22:58to continue
22:58the work of fools.
23:00You cannot return
23:00to France
23:01before your army.
23:02They were ready
23:03to sound the death knoll
23:04at Sand Rock
23:04to announce my demise.
23:06And nobody even thought
23:07to designate
23:08Marie-Louise's regent.
23:09And I have a son,
23:11a successor.
23:12But they have forgotten
23:13him,
23:13call and call.
23:14They have forgotten
23:15the King of Rome.
23:21While Napoleon
23:22thinks about returning home,
23:23the massacre continues
23:25on the ground.
23:26In mid-November,
23:27only 42,000 men remain
23:29of the 104,000
23:30who left Moscow.
23:32The others have perished
23:33from hunger,
23:34exhaustion and disease,
23:35or have deserted,
23:37some of the stragglers
23:37falling into the hands
23:38of Cossack detachments
23:40and others dying in combat.
23:42Smolensk is no longer
23:44very far away.
23:47Napoleon hoped
23:48to pass more
23:48to the south,
23:49on the richer lands
23:50that hadn't been touched,
23:52where they might find food.
23:54But he was prevented
23:55from doing this
23:56by the Russian army,
23:57which forced him
23:59to return the way
24:00he had come,
24:00via Smolensk.
24:03They all hoped
24:04to find food
24:05and fodder for the horses
24:06in Smolensk,
24:07thanks to the levies
24:08imposed on the local population.
24:11The survivors believe
24:13that the end
24:13of their hardships
24:14is close.
24:17In Smolensk,
24:18Napoleon had given
24:19orders for provisions
24:20so the men
24:21would have something
24:22to eat when they arrived.
24:24But the troops
24:26he'd left there
24:26had already started
24:27on these reserves,
24:29which meant
24:29that there wasn't enough
24:30to fulfill the needs
24:32of the returning army.
24:37It's a huge disappointment.
24:40Starving and weakened,
24:41the Grande Armée
24:42has to leave Smolensk.
24:44It's but a shadow
24:45of what it once was,
24:46and the Cossacks
24:47profit from this vulnerability
24:49to attack its flanks.
24:51This constant harassment
24:53forces Napoleon
24:53to keep his surviving troops
24:55on a route
24:56that has been stripped bare.
24:59As for Kutuzov,
25:00he has 80,000 men in pursuit
25:02and is getting dangerously close
25:04to Napoleon's position.
25:06He's supported in the north
25:07by General Wittgenstein,
25:09who has 40,000 troops
25:11and is preparing to bear down
25:12on the middle
25:13of the French army,
25:14while General Chichagov
25:15completes the Russian
25:16encircling of the French
25:18with 27,000 troops
25:19and 100 cannon
25:21upstream of the Berezina River.
25:24The noose is tightening,
25:25especially as Chichagov
25:26has taken a key position.
25:28He's controlling
25:29the only crossing point
25:30of the Berezina River,
25:31the bridge at Borisov.
25:33The Grand Armée is exhausted
25:37and its numbers are reducing
25:38a little more each day.
25:40The wind is like a razor blade
25:41cutting to the marrow.
25:43The ice seals their eyelids
25:45and their fingers stick
25:46to the metal of their guns.
25:48It makes their legs
25:49as fragile as alabaster.
25:51The joints in their feet
25:52and hands break
25:53at the slightest pressure,
25:54yet they feel no pain.
25:56To remove the clothes
26:00of the fallen,
26:01one cannot wait
26:01until their bodies
26:02are frozen stiff.
26:04More than one
26:05finds himself stripped
26:06before breathing his last.
26:16Sergeant Bourgoinia remembers.
26:19Exhausted by this inhuman march,
26:21I left the ranks
26:22and joined up
26:23with a few soldiers.
26:31I had one potato left to eat.
26:35In a fit of selfishness
26:36for which I never forgave myself,
26:38I didn't share it
26:39with my friends
26:40who were dying of hunger.
26:42But it was frozen solid.
26:45My teeth slid across it,
26:47unable to take a bite.
26:51I was taken by
26:57an overwhelming desire
26:58to sleep,
27:00but I knew
27:00that it would be fatal.
27:02I had to move,
27:04march, and stay awake,
27:06so I went back on my way.
27:11Bourgoinia is disorientated
27:13by the blizzard
27:13and the darkness.
27:15The snow covers his footprints.
27:18He marches like this
27:20until dawn,
27:21looking for his regiment.
27:22He can no longer feel
27:23his limbs
27:24nor the rats
27:25snoring at him.
27:31At dawn,
27:33he discovers
27:33the remains of a convoy
27:35and the hope
27:36of finding something to eat,
27:38something to keep him alive
27:39for a few more hours
27:40on this miserable earth.
27:42As we do,
27:44we are going to be
27:46almost in the middle.
27:48Wait, wait,
27:48wait, wait,
27:49stop,
27:49stop.
27:50Go for a while.
27:52Go see.
28:53That's so cool.
29:23As the troops progressed, they left behind the stragglers and the sick, who were immediately
29:30taken prisoner.
29:32The prisoners' fates varied depending on their circumstances.
29:37Those who were lucky enough, if you can put it like that, to be handed over to the regular
29:42army were escorted east to stop them returning to fight.
29:47Others met an even worse fate.
29:49They had everything taken from them and were turned over to village communities, who often
29:54put them to death.
29:58Alexander is shocked by these revelations and does everything he can to forbid such practices,
30:04promising a reward for soldiers and peasants who hand prisoners over to a civil authority
30:09to have them locked up.
30:11But the abuse of prisoners isn't just limited to the Russians.
30:14In Smolensk, 600 Russian prisoners, considered unable to march, are executed by the French.
30:21Alexander is getting impatient.
30:24He knows the end game is coming.
30:26The Berezina is his one chance and he gives his men the order to capture Napoleon.
30:31The battle of the Berezina is a battle that made a real impact on Napoleon's campaign.
30:41The name refers to a river, which was an obstacle for Napoleon's army.
30:46And Kutuzov thought that the Berezina would be the obstacle that would enable him to surround
30:51Napoleon and seize his army.
30:55The army that came from Moscow approached the Berezina river and hoped to cross it to
31:00a place called Borisov, where there was a bridge.
31:05Under orders from Napoleon, Marshal Oudino boldly swoops upon the town of Borisov,
31:11capturing it without difficulty.
31:14But the Russians have burned the bridge, destroying the Grande Armée's only route over the Berezina
31:20and out of Kutuzov's pincer movement.
31:27They need another route, urgently.
31:29One of Marshal Oudino's units, lost on the other bank, comes across a peasant, soaked up to his armpits.
31:42They deduce there must be a place where the river can be forded nearby.
31:48They interrogate the peasant, who tells them that it is nearby the village of Studyanka,
31:53eight miles north of Borisov.
31:57But Napoleon is not the only one to understand the strategic importance of the bridge at Borisov.
32:04Chichagov is defending the West Bank with 30,000 men and 100 cannon.
32:09At the same time, Kutuzov is coming up behind the Napoleonic forces with his 80,000 troops.
32:16And he asked General Wittgenstein to complete the circle with a 30,000 strong force.
32:22Ah, Oudino.
32:23But Napoleon predicts their charade.
32:26Oudino and Mouton, you will discreetly advance your troops towards Studyanka.
32:31When night falls, you will build two bridges there.
32:33One for the artillery and the wagons, and the other for the infantry and cavalry.
32:38But, sir, if-
32:39Wait, Loriston.
32:40At the same time here, downstream from Borisov, visible to the enemy, we will rebuild the bridge there.
32:46But, contrary to what the Russians will think, we won't use it.
32:51And while Chichagov concentrates most of his troops here, our troops will cross the river here.
33:00In Studyanka.
33:01The apparently helpless situation of the Grande Armée did nothing to disturb the Emperor's serenity.
33:08Everyone else was in a panic, writes Collencourt.
33:11But Napoleon was bigger than that.
33:14Hope intoxicated him more than the most terrible setback could drag him down.
33:21Napoleon had the great idea of using a decoy, which in fact worked very well.
33:27Because he ordered Borisov to be retaken by the French.
33:31And ordered a lot of ostentatious construction in Borisov, to make the Russians think he was going to cross there.
33:40But at night, secretly, in the dark, he ordered the transfer of his men to begin, in the wake of Eble's bridge builders,
33:49who were in charge of the construction of the two famous bridges at Studyanka.
33:54If Napoleon's army cannot cross the Berezina, they have no choice but to surrender. France's fate hangs in the balance.
34:03Napoleon goes to the riverbank several times to observe the fires in the Russian camp.
34:08Their number and density reassure him that his plan is working.
34:14The Russians think that the main crossing point will be in Borisov.
34:17But Studyanka is only a couple of hours' march away for a trained army.
34:21The risk of being caught and attacked remains very real.
34:23The Russians think that the main crossing point will be in Borisov.
34:32But Studyanka is only a couple of hours' march away for a trained army.
34:36The risk of being caught and attacked remains very real.
34:53The western bank of the Berezina at Studyanka must be protected.
34:58Napoleon orders the 50 members of General Corbinot's cavalry to swim across the river.
35:03Each horse also carries an infantryman on its neck.
35:10400 soldiers join the brave cavalryman on makeshift rafts.
35:15There is a constant back and forth between the two banks.
35:20In parallel, the weakened Russian forces of General Kornilov
35:24are crushed by 50 cannon being directly commanded by Napoleon.
35:28The western bank is soon cleared.
35:38Two hours later, they start to install the uprights.
35:42General Leblay leads the way, throwing himself into the icy water.
35:46Eblay's heroic bridge builders remove their clothes and get down to work,
36:03ignoring the huge blocks of ice floating in the river.
36:06These blocks are as sharp as blades, making their task particularly dangerous.
36:11The bridge builders are up to their shoulders in the water, installing the uprights.
36:20Many lives are lost, abandoned to the current.
36:24They are soon replaced by other brave men.
36:27By the end of the morning, the infantry bridge is complete.
36:30By 1pm, Udino's troops are crossing the newly constructed bridge.
36:38In a hurry to reinforce the western bank, they hasten across the wobbly construction.
36:44By 4pm, the second bridge is completed beside the first.
36:48By the evening, almost 10,000 soldiers have crossed the bridge and reached the west bank of the river.
36:53Night falls, and they must take advantage of the darkness.
37:00Waggons and cannon are brought across the river.
37:03The bridge vibrates, and three times gives way, failing to support the weight.
37:14The loyal bridge builders jump back in the water to repair or replace the broken parts.
37:18It's a race against time, and the temperature is minus 30 degrees as they fix the bridge in under three hours.
37:34Napoleon and his general staff crossed to the west bank later on, continuing to encourage the never-ending flow across the bridge.
37:41This morning, Napoleon's orders were clear.
37:45Only ordered army troops are to cross.
37:48The rest, hawkers, stragglers and non-combatants, are roughly pushed back.
38:01After several days of solitary marching, Sergeant Bourgogne eventually meets up again with his companions.
38:06He joins non-combatants and stragglers who have been waiting since the previous day to cross the bridge.
38:15One witness wrote,
38:17Those who entered Russia to fight barbarism and introduce civilization are now nothing more than debris, pathetic ghosts.
38:25During the night of 27th of November, something incredible happens.
38:32There's virtually nobody pushing to cross the bridge.
38:36The way across is clear.
38:38But an exhausted and feverish Bourgogne is asleep beside a fire.
38:43At dawn, he is woken by cannon fire.
38:58He then understands that to be in with a chance of survival, he absolutely must cross the bridge.
39:04Better die from a cannonball than from cold or hunger.
39:08At 7am, completely alone, he gets up, takes his gun, and without saying a word to anyone, goes towards the bridge.
39:20His limbs are frozen, his bones as fragile as glass, making walking extremely difficult.
39:25Sergeant Bourgogne remembers.
39:31I saw women demonstrating admirable courage, tolerating pain.
39:38Some even put men to shame.
39:40Men who did not know how to tolerate adversity with bravery and resignation.
39:47I crossed the Berezina River on a totally deserted bridge.
39:51When I reached the other side, I saw on my right a large shack made from planks.
40:04It was there that the Emperor had slept, and where he still was.
40:08Bourgogne reaches the west bank and joins his comrades.
40:17But little does he know that four hours later, the nightmare would begin all over again.
40:23On the same side of the river, General Chichagov and 27,000 men are swooping down on Udino's troops.
40:34The fight is a terrible one.
40:36Udino must remain in control of the western bank at all costs, it being a vital crossing point.
40:41At the same moment, on the east bank, General Wittgenstein is leading 40,000 soldiers to attack Marshal Victor's 10,000 troops.
40:51As the rear guard has stayed near to Studianka, Napoleon's army is trapped.
40:55It is panic on the eastern bank.
40:59In the middle of the fighting and cannon fire, thousands of stragglers and non-combatants, who have been waiting for two days, race pell-mell onto the ramps leading to the bridges.
41:09Terrified men, women and children are shot down by cannon fire, trampled by horses, or fall from the slippery wooden structures.
41:17Grand Armée surgeon Baron de Larré remembers.
41:22The horror was everywhere.
41:25The strongest killed the weakest, who were crushed beneath the feet of the crowd.
41:30The air was filled with terrible screams.
41:33A few managed to swim across, but others drowned, and more still were trapped by the floating blocks of ice.
41:39The ferocious fighting continues until 11pm, to the sound of cannon and gunfire in a terrible snowstorm.
41:50At the end of one exhausting day, heavy with loss, the Russian armies are pushed back, and Napoleon controls both sides of the Berezina.
41:59At the Battle of Berezina, Napoleon took a decision as head of the army. It was the only option open to him. He wanted to save his army and continue his military campaign.
42:12The stragglers did not want to cross the bridges at night, and the Russians were coming, so he gave the order to burn the bridges.
42:18During the night, General Heble urges the survivors on the east bank to cross the last bridge that can still be crossed.
42:27Eble was a remarkable man. By that I mean he was devoted to his cause, extremely devoted to the emperor, but at the same time he was a deeply humane person.
42:40And when Napoleon gave him the order to burn the bridges, he knew very well what that meant.
42:46It meant that thousands of people would be left to the violence of the Cossacks.
42:52The fatal command, burn the bridges.
42:54Seeing the Cossacks approaching, General Heble accepts that he must do it, but he is sick at heart.
43:09In the first flames, there is a mad scramble to cross the bridge. The stragglers are running all over the place.
43:14A disordered and confused crowd of people stumbles around.
43:2912,000 stragglers and non-combatants, and around 3,000 fighters are desperately fighting to survive.
43:35As seen by the powerless spectators on the right bank, this is a spectacle of horror and suffering.
43:47It's a free-for-all, these unfortunate souls caught between two evils, cornered by the Cossacks who are not giving an inch, and trapped by the flaming bridges.
43:56There is no way forward and no way back.
44:04In the rush, the bridge collapses.
44:07Men, women, and children are consumed by flames or drowned in the icy water.
44:22The death toll is catastrophic.
44:28Kutuzov missed his chance at the Berezina.
44:327,000 of Napoleon's soldiers and 2,000 of his officers, his imperial guard, his marshals, and his high command managed to escape three Russian armies of many more men.
44:43Napoleon had lost no battles, but he had lost his entire campaign.
44:50More than 600,000 were gone either dead or taken prisoner in Russia.
44:55That was the result of this campaign.
44:58In fact, for the Russians, the Battle of Berezina was a failure, because they wanted to capture Napoleon.
45:04The Battle of the Berezina is both a disaster for the French army and a victory, indeed, in many ways, its proudest moment.
45:14Of course, thousands of French soldiers die at the Berezina.
45:19But what really matters is that the core of the French army escapes.
45:23And by the core of the French army, I mean its generals, its staff officers, its vital professional cadre.
45:30Napoleon was able to put together a very formidable new army in 1813.
45:37So it was a French victory of a sort.
45:41On the 5th of December, day 48 of the retreat, Napoleon, who can no longer bear not knowing what is happening in the capital, takes the decision to return to Paris.
45:51He orders Collencourt to accompany him.
45:54In ten days and ten nights they reach Germany.
45:56After crossing the Duchy of Warsaw, they stop over in Germany.
46:01Incognito, they hope.
46:03As soon as I'm back in Paris, I'll reassure my people and explain to them the reasons for our battles.
46:10Collencourt.
46:11Events have proven you right, Collencourt. But I didn't lead this campaign like some Don Quixote in search of adventures, no.
46:26The only difference between me and other sovereigns is that problems stand in their way, whereas I like to overcome them, especially when the rewards are grand and noble worthy of me and the nation.
46:37If it hadn't been for the weather, the Russians would have capitulated.
46:41Look, our disasters were limited to a week. We stayed a week too long in Moscow. But nothing is over. We'll prove ourselves yet.
46:50Do you not think we should...
46:51I know what you think of me, Collencourt. But I have no more ambition. I'm too old for it. Believe me. I yearn to rest. But I want to finish my oeuvre.
47:02Übrigens.
47:03Ja?
47:04Wir sind jetzt schon zwei Stunden hier. Wo bleiben denn die Pferde?
47:16Pferde sind gleich gesattelt, mein Herr.
47:19Ich kann doch kaum glauben, dass diese Post über kein Pferd verfügt und dass Meilenwein kein zu finden ist.
47:27Die Zeiten sind hart, mein Herr. Das ist Napoleons Schuld.
47:30Gerade heute Morgen haben uns Plünderer schon wieder zwei Reitpferde gestohlen.
47:38Convince, the innkeeper is deliberately holding them up. Collencourt fehrs an ambush.
47:43Ich weiß, dass du Pferde ahst. Wofür steckst du sie?
47:48Ich sagte, ich hab keine...
47:49Wenn sie in fünf Minuten nicht gesattet sind, dann schlitz ich dich auf.
47:57Ich bin bereit.
47:58Ich bin bereit.
47:59Ich bin bereit.
48:00Ich bin bereit.
48:01Ich bin bereit.
48:02Ich bin bereit.
48:03Ich bin bereit.
48:04Ich bin bereit.
48:05Ich bin bereit.
48:06Ich bin bereit.
48:07Ich bin bereit.
48:08Ich bin bereit.
48:09Ich bin bereit.
48:10Ich bin bereit.
48:11Ich bin bereit.
48:12Ich bin bereit.
48:13Ich bin bereit.
48:14Ich bin bereit.
48:15Ich bin bereit.
48:16Ich bin bereit.
48:18Ich bin bereit.
48:21Ich bin bereit.
48:23Überraschelung hatte 49 seconden.
48:26Das war dann auch Bad Gettingeckt hat, bei der Kossakorskowitz.
48:29In fact, it didn't doubt Napoleon right until the end, until 1814.
48:34This was in part down to Napoleon being relatively popular.
48:38He was extremely popular even, but in particular, the people really trusted him.
48:43He was, after all, a man who had spent the last 12 years winning every battle he fought,
48:47so people thought that in Russia he'd slipped up because of the winter,
48:51despite it not only being down to the winter, and that the emperor would fix everything.
48:59The Russia campaign marked the start of the decline of the First Empire.
49:08Two years later, the English would win the Battle of Waterloo,
49:12and France would be reduced to its pre-1790 frontiers.
49:22However, it was the start of a new era for Russia,
49:26which found a new place as a major global power.
49:29A year later, and this patriotic war had helped Russia forge a national identity
49:35that was celebrated by writers and musicians alike.
49:41Being used to success cost us dear in Russia.
49:45We had never learned to beat a retreat.
49:50During this long debacle,
49:52the emperor was as unsure and undecided on the first day as he was on the last.
49:59Fate had so often smiled upon him
50:01that he was never able to believe it might betray him.
50:04If you count the survivors from the Battle of the Berezina and the troops stationed in Lithuania,
50:11fewer than 30,000 crossed back over the Neman River.
50:1530,000 out of 500,000 six months earlier.
50:19More than 200,000 soldiers from the Grande Armée died in combat,
50:23from the cold, from hunger, or from sickness.
50:26More than 150,000 were taken prisoner.
50:29On the Russian side, the losses were set at 300,000 dead,
50:34half of whom were killed in combat.
50:39Sergeant Bougainu remembers.
50:42The Battle of the Berezina was not the end of our struggle.
50:46I was taken prisoner a short time later.
50:50The Russians decided to send us east, towards Siberia.
50:55My unlucky companions thought it better to be held captive and fed potatoes
50:59than to die free men from cold or hunger on the march.
51:09But I pointed out to them that it would be much better to escape their clutches.
51:16Several thousand of us died before reaching Siberia.
51:22Others accepted the Tsar's offer to take Russian nationality
51:26and settle in this land they had been asked to conquer.
51:32As for me, I eventually managed to escape.
51:38And in the spring of 1813, I arrived back in France.
51:47The Battle of the Berezina
52:02The Battle of the beginning
52:10Next year
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